Of Talking And Walking
by theo darkstar
Summary: Life is not easy for Stoic after his wife leaves, add to that a small child, his son  Hiccup  that he has to look after and its a lot harder.  He does not know what to do, so asks for help from family friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - any name you don't know belongs to me. the rest, unfortunately, do not. I wish they did.**

**This is my first How to Train Your Dragon story, I hope you like it. I don't know if i will do more. Let me know what you think of it. Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

Stoic was worried. Something was wrong and he couldn't place his finger on it. It had not been easy for him since his wife had passed away. Some days were better than others. There was the Village to oversee and a scrawny son to look after. It was his son that was worrying him. Hiccup was a curious little boy who was always getting in trouble. At just four years old, he had already caused a whole house to be burned down. Now he couldn't find the little boy. He had searched the whole house. Finally he sat back to think. If he was a skinny little four year old boy, where would he hide? Hiccup knew the rules, when dad is not home, stay inside and play with your toys, do not wonder anywhere. If a dragon raid happens while you are home alone, go to daddy's bed and stay there until someone comes to fetch him. Hiccup had a hard time obeying those two simple rules. True, the boy was probably still sad and missing his mother, for the first two weeks after she had died, Stoic had sort of neglected the boy, it wasn't until Gobber turned up on his doorstep with the boy dangling from his hook as a hand that Stoic felt a stab of heart break. It seemed Hiccup had crawled outside and wondered among the village, grabbing food from anyone who would feed him. Now, Stoic was afraid for his son when he didn't know where he was. Hence, the panic was starting to set in. Finally, the burly Chief stood up, grabbed his axe and strode to the door, pulling it open.

"Hi Stoic, I think you are missing something!" greeted Gobber. He held up his hand to show the babbling boy hanging there. Hiccup looked up and his green eyes widened. He held out two hands towards his dad, a happy grin on his face.

"Hiccup! Where have you been? Thanks Gobber, where did you find him?" Stoic cried as he grabbed his son up. Hiccup giggled and pulled on his dad's beard.

"He was wondering around the Smithy, about to burn himself on the forge," Gobber said with a laugh. Hiccup giggled again and mumbled something while pointing at Gobber.

"Still not good at the speaking is he, or walking, he stumbled over his feet and nearly face planted into the fire!" Gobber laughed. Stoic frowned.

"Are kids meant to be good at speaking at this age?" he asked, his frown melting into worry.

"Sure, your nephew, Snotlout, is running around causing mischief with those horrible twins, and Astrid will tell you all about axe's and how they cut things, while Fishlegs will spout off all kinds of things about different dragons, I think that kid is even reading," Gobber rambled, he looked at Stoic and Hiccup and laughed. "Don't worry; I'm sure Hiccup will catch up soon!"

"Do you think I should send him to play with the other children? Maybe he gets lonely all day by himself with no one to talk to," Stoic mused out loud. Gobber nodded, he wanted to help when he could; it was hard work for Stoic to look after a little boy by himself, though he had been doing an ok job for the last two years. But it was true, Hiccup was miles behind his peers when it came to talking and walking, even growth. But if Stoic wanted to send him to play with the other children, Gobber would just have to keep an eye out on things. Maybe he could suggest Astrid or Fishlegs as a good play-mate; they were not as rough as Snotlout and the twins.

"Come on, let's go to the Great Hall for dinner tonight, Hiccup can meet his future play-mates tonight!" Gobber suggested as he edged Stoic out the house. Stoic nodded. And so they made their way down the path towards the Great Hall. Hiccup laughed and babbled all the way.

"Evening Stoic!"

"Hi Gobber, Stoic, how's things?"

People greeted the village Chief and the blacksmith as they entered the hall. Stoic spied Krisa Hofferman sitting near by with her daughter and made his way over. His wife had been good friends with Krisa and he supposed that was a good person to start with, Hiccup and Astrid had often played together when they were little babies.

"Evening Krisa, how are you?" greeted Stoic as he sat down. He placed Hiccup on his lap and Gobber went to fetch them some meals.

"Hi Stoic, I'm good, oh is that Hiccup? He has grown up lots! Is he causing more mischief now he can walk? I bet he talks your ears off, he always was a chatter box as a baby!" Krisa said turning to the Chief and his small son. Hiccup ignored her and concentrated on playing with a fork.

"Yes, this is Hiccup, still causing mischief. He doesn't talk though. I'm a little worried about it, and he doesn't walk very well, he is very clumsy, I was wondering if you could help us?" Stoic asked. Krisa laughed and held out her arms in a question if it was alright to take the boy. Stoic paused before handing over his son. Hiccup let out a squawk as he was handed over but was soon distracted by the beads around Krisa's neck.

"Hi Hiccup, do you remember me? Probably not, you were just a wee tyke when I last saw you!" Krisa said as she removed the beads from Hiccup's fingers. Hiccup let out a squeak of protest and grabbed for them, babbling something in a grumpy voice.

"Hiccup stop that! Sorry Krisa, he should know better, here Hiccup, have your fork back," Stoic apologised as he put the fork in his son's grabbing hands. Krisa frowned. She had a lot of work to do. It seemed that Stoic was not really sure what he was doing, and Hiccup had a short attention span, as the small boy giggled and played with the fork, sticking it in his mouth to chew on.

"Ah Stoic, I would be happy to help, but I will need to work with both of you at times. How about you bring him around tomorrow and he can spend the day!" she suggested. Stoic nodded just as Gobber came over with two plates of food. Hiccup spied the food and squealed in delight. He wriggled out of Krisa's lap and climbed back onto his dad's lap before sticking his fork into the plate and picking out some fish to eat. Krisa smiled to see the big tough Chief sitting and eating, sharing his food with a small scrawny child with large green eyes. The main problem was that Stoic did not talk enough with his son. He spent time with him sure, but he didn't really spend time with him being a father. The child seemed eager to spend time with his father or with anyone who would give him some attention.

"Mama, who is that baby?" asked Astrid beside her mother.

"That's not a baby that is Hiccup, he is coming to play tomorrow, so you be nice to him," Krisa said with a smile as she picked up her daughter to leave the Hall.

"But he can't talk! Babies can't talk either, so I think he is a baby!" Astrid said with a firm nod of her head. Krisa laughed at her daughter's logic. Life seemed so simple when you were four turning five. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer - once again not my characters. apart from Krisa. I like her as a mum.**

**hmm People Like my story! YAY... I wasn't sure about doing a second Chapter, but it just flowed on. What do you guys think? I like my Astrid. And Hiccup is so cute. Should I continue? Let me know in reviews. I like reviews.!  
**

Stoic was once again searching for his son. It was early morning and he was trying to get himself ready for a busy day and get his son ready to go to visit Krisa and Astrid for the day. But he could not find Hiccup. He was not in his own bed, nor was he upstairs in his new half made room. He wasn't in the main hall either. Finally, Stoic went back to his room to finish getting ready. He found Hiccup there, curled up on his pillow, fast asleep. Stoic smiled, Hiccup must have had a bad dream and crawled into his bed early this morning without him realizing. So Stoic carefully dressed his boy in some day clothes and gathered him into his arms. They left the house not long after that, Hiccup just starting to wake up. They reached the Hofferson house and Stoic knocked on the door. He could hear a pattering of small feet and the door was pulled open by a small blond girl with a toy axe slung over her shoulder.

"Hi Chief! Mum it's the Chief with that boy who is not a baby even though he can't talk yet!" the girl shouted back into the house.

"Invite him in Astrid dear," Krisa said as she appeared behind her daughter. She smiled at Stoic.

"Would you like to come in? Mum is getting breakfast ready, are you hungry? What's his name anyway?" at the last question she pointed to Hiccup, who was peering over his dad's arm while chewing on the small wooden dragon he had brought with him.

"This is Hiccup, and I have to go help the boat builders today so I won't be staying for breakfast, I'll be back later today to collect him." Stoic placed his son on the ground and patted him on the head. Krisa nodded as Stoic turned and walked away. Hiccup stood staring at Astrid as his dad walked away. Astrid stared at the small boy in front of her.

"Well come on children, lets have breakfast, are you hungry Hiccup?" asked Krisa as she walked towards the kitchen with Astrid and Hiccup. Hiccup nodded as he stumbled along beside the tall woman. Astrid giggled at the boy's tripping walk.

"Why can't you walk right? Snotlout can run really fast and even fat Fishlegs is able to walk well!" the blonde four year old said with an air of importance about her. Hiccup stared at her, dragon toy half in his mouth.

"Don't eat that Hiccup dear," Krisa said as she gently removed the toy from the boy's mouth. She sat the children at the table and served them breakfast. Astrid started eating, staring at Hiccup all the while. Hiccup placed his toy down and picked up the spoon. He pushed the gruel around his plate before taking a careful mouthful. He had never really had breakfast before. Krisa watched the two eat, listening to Astrid talk and answering when necessary. Hiccup was silent, wide green eyes watching everything. After breakfast, Krisa sent the two children to play. She hoped that Astrid would get the boy to start talking. Astrid was a bossy child with a strong personality. She didn't let any of the other children push her around, even though she was the youngest of the group. Hiccup was the only other child younger than her at the moment in the village. Even Snotlout did what Astrid said, and he was a whole year older than her.

"Mum, I just got Hiccup to say something! Come listen!" called Astrid excitedly. Krisa hurried to listen to what her daughter had managed. "Alright Hiccup, just do as I told you!"

"Dragon!" said Hiccup pointing at his toy.

"Oh well done Hiccup! And you too Astrid, well done!" Krisa said praising both children. Hiccup smiled and repeated the word again. Astrid giggled.

"Can we go visit the others today?" asked Astrid.

"Not today Astrid, I want Hiccup more comfortable with us first before we introduce him to the others to play with. Why don't we practice talking today, if he can say a whole sentence before the end of the day then tomorrow we can go play with the others." Krisa said. She didn't thing it would happen, but Astrid liked a challenge. Astrid nodded and turned back to Hiccup with a determined look on her face. Krisa smiled and left them at it.

By lunch Hiccup could say three words. And he would repeat those words over and over with a laugh. Astrid was very proud of her work so far. Krisa was also proud, but Hiccup could be very loud. There had only been one tantrum, and Hiccup had screamed loudly until he got his way. Krisa suspected Stoic had just given the boy what he wanted to avoid screaming. So Hiccup had gotten used to things going his way. Things were different at the Hofferson household. Hiccup did not get his way. And screaming was not accepted. The poor boy had suffered a time out sitting in the corner for a minute. Krisa had discovered the boy had a very short attention span. Astrid managed to keep up with his attention span really well. She knew how to distract him and how to get him to do things. Their one little argument had resulted in the tantrum by Hiccup. He had discovered the swords hanging from the wall and wanted to touch one. Astrid had said no, trying to distract him with his toy dragon again. But Hiccup was determined. He had been reaching for the sword, repeating the word over and over. Astrid had lost her temper, as four year olds were want to do at times, and told him no and smacked his hand. She had seen her mother do it enough times to naughty children, mainly the twins, and they stopped it. But Hiccup was different. No one had ever hit him before. The poor boy had broken down into tears and then started screaming. Krisa had listened to her daughter's explanation and then calmed Hiccup down enough to explain what he had done wrong before placing him in time out.

"Sword! Look dragon!" Hiccup chattered over lunch. Krisa smiled. At least the boy was learning.

Stoic wondered how his son had managed the day. He knocked on the door of the Hofferson household and waited. He loved his son, but he didn't understand how to talk to him, or interact with him. Today he had visited his brother, Spitelout, and seen his nephew, Snotlout. The boy was big and burly. He had been playing with the Thorston twins. Even though those three were a year older than Hiccup, they seemed miles ahead. The door was opened by Astrid followed by Hiccup. Astrid grinned when she saw him.

"Look what I got Hiccup to do!" Astrid said pushing the smaller boy forward.

"Dad! This dragon! See, look, it dragon!" Hiccup said with a wide grin. Stoic smiled. His son had talked. He gathered his son into his arms and gave him a big hug.

"Hiccup, you talked! Well done!" he said.

"I made him talk! It took all day!" Astrid said. Krisa came up behind her daughter and smiled at father and son.

"So we shall see you tomorrow?" she said with a smile.

"Tomorrow we are going to see the other kids! Because I made Hiccup say a sentence, right Hiccup, say it for your dad ok!" Astrid demanded.

"That sword hurt a dragon!" Hiccup cried in delight. He clapped his hands when he saw the happy faces around him.

"He has had dinner and is all ready for bed, we shall see you tomorrow Hiccup!" Krisa said to both Stoic and his son.

"Thanks Krisa, bye, see you tomorrow!" Stoic said as he walked away with his son. Hiccup chattered to him the whole walk home. He talked mostly about dragons, putting the few words he knew together in random sentences. Stoic was happy his son was starting to talk. He wondered what the next few days would bring.

As she watched father and son walk away, Krisa began to understand why the boy had such trouble walking, he was carried everywhere. She could understand it a little, Stoic had already lost one person close to him, and he didn't want to lose another. So he held his son close to him as often as possible. Reaching down, she picked her daughter up and hugged her close.

"Uh mum, don't do that! I'm too old to be carried!" Astrid protested. Krisa just smiled and kissed her daughter as they walked inside. Little Vikings grew up too fast she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - the characters that you know do not belong to me. others do. its confusing. **

**_Hi all, sorry for the delay in updates, have not been home. Anyway, I'm glad to see people are enjoying my story! It makes my day to read reviews, (that is because i currently have no life due to having no uni at the moment and no people to visit) anyway, keep reading and reviewing and give me some ideas of what you think of my story :)_  
**

"Hiccup!" shouted Stoic, "Get back here!"

The small boy ignored his fathers shout and raced away, twisting and turning as he ran through the village, eyes searching for Astrid and the others. His father was angry with him again. But it wasn't really his fault. He had honestly forgotten about the bucket of water at his father's door and had remembered when his father stepped in it that morning. It had been an interesting way to wake up. He hadn't really wanted to do it, but Snotlout said it would be a funny thing to do and the twins had agreed, saying they did it all the time. Astrid hadn't really said anything, but Hiccup knew deep down she didn't approve, so he had ignored her to listen to Snotlout and the twins. For the past year he had spent almost everyday with Astrid and her mother. Sometimes they went out to play with the other children, but Hiccup was a little nervous about them. Astrid said they weren't really playing, they were training. And Hiccup could see the resemblance. When they hung out with Snotlout and the twins and Fishlegs, there was a lot of fighting involved. Each child had a toy weapon that they carted around with them and they would hit and poke each other, sometimes using fists. Hiccup was not very good at that play. He was still very clumsy and tended to fall over a lot. He liked talking with Fishlegs though. Fishlegs knew lots about dragons and the two would sit and discuss them for hours. Fishlegs was even teaching him how to read. But Hiccup still followed what Astrid said to do. It was a habit. After spending so much time with the strong willed girl, it was hard not to obey her when she barked orders.

"Hey there toothpick!" cried Snotlout as Hiccup was tackled to the ground by Tuffnut.

"Ah Tuffnut, get off me! Hi Snotlout," Hiccup cried as he tried to get out of Tuffnut's hold on him. The older boys laughed and ignored his cries, instead dragging the small boy with them over to where Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Astrid were sitting. Once there, Tuffnut threw the boy over to where the others sat, sending him rolling into Fishlegs and knocking the fat boy into Ruffnut. The girl twin snarled and leapt to her feet before descending on poor Hiccup and pummelling her fists into his chest. Hiccup curled up and whimpered.

"Stop that Ruffnut," Astrid said calmly as she pulled Hiccup behind her. Sometimes she wondered what was wrong with the boy; he was so different to the others. He was gentle and caring and unwilling to fight back. He could talk but he didn't stop talking sometimes. And once he had got the hang of writing and drawing, he was always drawing things, machines and contraptions that often baffled the others, even Fishlegs.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" asked Tuffnut as he sat down next to his twin.

"Well we need to get out there when the next Dragon Raid happens!" Snotlout said, eyes alight with mischief and desire.

"Oh, make our mark!" sighed Ruffnut.

"Show the parentals that we are ready to help!" agreed Tuffnut. The twins high-fived each other.

"But won't we get in trouble?" asked Fishlegs. Astrid sighed; sometimes she wondered why she hung out with those guys.

"Ok, how are we going to do that?" she asked, being the voice of reason. The others were silent.

"We could help put out the fires!" Hiccup ventured, peaking his head around Astrid.

"Boring!" chimed the twins. Astrid sighed. They said that to all Hiccup's thoughts.

"Wait! That could work!" Snotlout said eagerly.

"Yeah, once they see us out there fighting the fires, they will have to let us help all the time!" Fishlegs added. Astrid nodded, it was a good plan, and they wouldn't get in the way overly much.

"You can't stuff this up for us toothpick!" Snotlout said sternly as he turned to where Hiccup was sitting behind Astrid, notebook out and pencil in hand. The small boy looked up and nodded. He would try to not get in the way and mess things up. He often did though. He couldn't help it. Sometimes his feet tripped over things and his mouth said things as soon as he thought it. Astrid was the only one who didn't get mad at him all the time.

"Hiccup won't do anything silly, will you Hiccup!" Astrid smiled as she pulled Hiccup into a headlock. The small boy simply shook his head, he knew from experience not to go against Astrid.

"Great, now that's out of the way, wanna see this new move my dad showed me yesterday?" Snotlout boasted leaping to his feet.

"Yeah!" chimed the twins jumping up. Fishlegs and Astrid were soon on their feet as well, toy weapons twirling. Hiccup stretched out on his tummy and continued to draw. He wanted to see if he could improve the catapults and from here he had the perfect view of them. He wanted to get them just right. So he continued to draw and ignored the others.

Later that night found Hiccup curled up on his dad's bed. Stoic was sitting beside his son, reading him a story about a famous dragon slayer. The book had once belonged to Hiccup's mother. Krisa had suggested Stoic read bed-time stories to his son the help them bond. Stoic found he rather enjoyed this father-son time. Most of the time they read the stories up in Hiccup's new room, but on nights when it was stormy, Hiccup slept in his father's bed. Soon Hiccup was fast asleep, fist clutched firmly in his dad's beard as he had wormed his way onto his dad's lap. Stoic put aside the book and repositioned himself on the bed. Sometimes he didn't understand his tiny son, and he sometimes struggled with the feelings he felt for the boy, but he did love him. He loved his son so much he did not want to see any harm befall the boy. Maybe he was a little overprotective of him as Gobber said, but he had already lost one precious person, he was not about to loose another. He saw how the other children ran about with toy weapons, play-fighting each other, ending up with bruises and cuts all over them, and was glad his son liked to draw. But he knew Hiccup was going to want to fight one day. But for now, he would do all he could to keep his son from harm. He would protect him from the dragons and the dangers. He would let the boy sleep in his bed as often as he wanted. With those thoughts bouncing about in his head, Stoic too fell asleep, small son clutched in his arms.


End file.
